A few thoughts to jump start your Wednesday morning: GOOD FIRST HALF, NOT SO GOOD SECOND BUT UF BEATS ELON Mike White liked what he saw in the first half Tuesday night but the second left plenty to be desired as the Gators opened their basketball season with a 74-61 win over Elon at the O-Dome. The Gators dominated the first half when they went on a 21-7 run in the final 7:23 to take a 47-24 lead into the locker room. The Gators played with energy at both ends of the floor, scoring 16 points off turnovers, 11 second chance points and 11 off fast breaks. The Gators shot 51.6 percent from the field while holding the Phoenix to 9-26 shooting. Then came the second half and the Gators played like a team that couldn’t wait to get the game over. White said he liked how the Gators played the first 20 minutes “but what I didn’t like is we didn’t play for 40. I thought we let our foot off the gas pedal and didn’t play with a lot of maturity down the stretch.” That’s an understatement. The Gators were just 9-28 from the field and 4-11 from the foul line in the second half when they were outscored by Elon, 37-27. Although Florida held a final rebounding edge of 43-34, White had to be concerned that the undersized Phoenix outrebounded UF, 22-17, in the second half. Defensively, Florida’s intensity tapered off considerably in the second half. White did substitute liberally and gave his younger players plenty of time off the bench, but even though the young guys had their struggles, it was the play of the veterans that concerned him. “We did play a lot of young guys late, but that’s not an excuse for the older guys playing, not finishing defensively,” White said. Colin Castleton, who finished the game with 18 points, five rebounds, four assists, six blocked shots and a steal, did almost all his damage in the first half when he had 17 points, four rebounds, two assists and three blocked shots. In the second half he scored only one point and was 1-4 from the foul line. For the night, he was 4-10. “We came out playing hard on every level, and then we just let up,” Castleton said. “It was really disappointing.” Penn State transfer Myreon Jones couldn’t find the range on his shot in the first half (1-6 overall, 0-3 from the 3-point line) but he got into a comfortable groove in the final 20 minutes. Jones was 5-7 overall in the second half and 4-5 from the 3-point line, finishing the game with 18 points, six rebounds, three assists and a steal. Jones was miffed at Florida’s lack of second half intensity. “We’re an older team, so guys should know better that we have to play two halves and we can’t play just one,” Jones said. “We haven’t shown that yet and we have to fix it. I have confidence in this team that we’ll fix it and get better for the next game.” Tyree Appleby had a good night shooting the ball – 3-6 on 3-pointers, 5-5 from the foul line for 14 points – but turned the ball over four times against only three assists. Appleby and Castleton combined for nine of Florida’s 13 turnovers. Anthony Duruji was the only other Gator to score in double figures, finishing the game with 10 points, a game-high seven rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal. The next game is Sunday afternoon against Florida State at the O-Dome. The Seminoles open their season tonight against Pennsylvania. First game observations: For much of the first half, White had the Gators in a 2-2-1 full court press, dropping into man when Elon crossed half court. If they can stay out of foul trouble, this can be a nice way to compensate for their overall lack of size. Transfers Brandon McKissic and Phlandrous Fleming Jr. are particularly effective playing a full court defensive game but they don’t get beaten in the half court either. Florida’s half court defense will be a step up over last year’s team. When the Gators spread the floor, Castleton can be very effective putting the ball on the deck and going to the rack. This is an area that is much improved over last year. He’s not a dominating post up player but he’s very capable of scoring on the move if the Gators can keep the paint free. Jones showed something in the second half. He’s pretty much in range from the moment he crosses midcourt. I like what I’m seeing out of Duruji. He’s playing under control and seeing the floor better. He’s not launching threes indiscriminately. He will have to stay out of foul trouble. THIS QUOTE SAYS IT ALL ABOUT WHY MULLEN IS FEELING THE NEED TO MAKE CHANGES At his Monday press conference this comment was telling about the pressure Dan Mullen was feeling after losing a third straight game to drop to 4-5 on the season. “We’re not better than we were earlier in the year,” Mullen said. In fact, we’re worse than we were earlier in the year. At that point I looked and I said we’ve got to make some changes with what we’re doing and where we’re at.” Mullen also took ownership for the current state of the program: “Me, I’m the head coach, so I bear all of it. It’s on my shoulders. I’m the one that’s responsible for this program. I’m the one that’s responsible for the this team and how we’ve got to perform … It’s my responsibility to find a way to fix that.” GEORGIA, ALABAMA 1-2 IN PLAYOFF POLL Georgia and Alabama remained 1-2 when the second week of the College Football Playoff poll was revealed Tuesday night. Moving up one notch to 3rd was Oregon with Ohio State moving one spot to 4th. Last week’s No. 3 Michigan State dropped to 7th behind Michigan, which is strange considering Michigan State owns the head-to-head win over Michigan. Undefeated Cincinnati moved up one place to 5th while Oklahoma, which is also unbeaten, remained at No. 8. San Diego State (8-1) and UT-San Antonio (9-0) were the other grou of five teams in the poll, with San Diego State at 22 and UTSA at 23. In addition to Georgia and Alabama, four other teams from the SEC made the top 25 – 11. Texas A&M, 15. Ole Miss, 17. Auburn and 25. Arkansas. The Big Ten also had six teams in the poll. WEEK 2, College Football Playoff poll: 1. Georgia 9-0; 2. Alabama 8-1; 3. Oregon 8-1; 4. Ohio State 8-1; 5. Cincinnati 9-0; 6. Michigan 8-1; 7. Michigan State 8-1; 8. Oklahoma 9-0; 9. Notre Dame 8-1; 10. Oklahoma State 8-1; 11. Texas A&M 7-2; 12. Wake Forest 8-1; 13. Baylor 7-2; 14. BYU 8-2; 15. Ole Miss 7-2; 16. North Carolina State 7-2; 17. Auburn 6-3; 18. Wisconsin 6-3; 19. Purdue 6-3; 20. Iowa 7-2; 21. Pittsburgh 7-2; 22. San Diego State 8-1; 23. UT-San Antonio 9-0; 24. Utah 6-3; 25. Arkansas 6-3 OVER, UNDER, AROUND AND THROUGH THE SEC (FOOTBALL): Alabama (8-1, 5-1 SEC): Cornerback Marcus Banks, who has played in eight games this season, has entered his name in the NCAA transfer portal. A former 4-star recruit, Banks had six tackles and one interception. He has two seasons of eligibility remaining. Arkansas (6-3, 2-3 SEC): What a difference a year makes. A year ago the Hogs averaged 25.7 points per game and gave up 34.9. This season they’re averaging 32.6 and giving up 24. Auburn (6-3, 3-2 SEC): Auburn hasn’t scored a touchdown in six quarters, which prompted HBC Bryan Harsin to say, “We need to have better plays. We need to have better play calls. We need to have opportunities to score and create those on the offensive side, so we’ve got to make plays and we’ve got to be a whole lot better.” Georgia (9-0, 7-0 SEC): Chris Fowler of ESPN offers this formula to beat the Bulldogs: “I don’t put them in that category of dominance because I still think there are some limitations on offense. They’re not going to overwhelm you, but defensively they’re so good they don’t have to. They’re playing to the strength of their team ... Can you hold up against Georgia’s running game? You have to make (Stetson) Bennett beat you or have them bring in (JT) Daniels in off the bench cold. You have to make them throw to beat you.” Kentucky (6-3, 4-3 SEC): Sophomore right guard Eli Cox is probably done for the season due to an injury … HBC Mark Stoops said the Wildcats gave up “an obscene amount of yards” on 10 explosive plays by Tennessee. LSU (4-5, 2-4 SEC): On ESPN Radio Baton Rouge Tuesday morning, Coach Oeaux says he is “fired up” about his final three regular season games as LSU’s HBC, adding “We want to win out and go to a bowl. I want the best for these young men. They deserve it.” LSU’s final three games of the regular season will all be played at Tiger Stadium. Mississippi State (5-4, 3-3 SEC): Will Rogers has thrown for 3,309 yards and 23 touchdowns through nine games. Missouri (4-5, 1-4 SEC): Starting QB Connor Bazelac, who missed the Georgia game, is still not 100 percent according to HBC Eli Drinkwitz. Ole Miss (7-2, 3-2 SEC): Lane Kiffin says injured wideout Jonathan Mingo will “be back by a bowl game at least” and that Braylon Sanders is “nowhere near 100 percent.” Sanders played in the win over Liberty, catching two passes for 64 yards. South Carolina (5-4, 2-4 SEC): If the Gamecocks can knock off Missouri Saturday, they will be bowl eligible for the first time since 2018. Tennessee (5-4, 3-3 SEC): Defensive back Theo Jackson, who has 60 tackles and 10 pass breakups this season, is looking forward to Saturday’s matchup with Georgia. Jackson said Tuesday, “We look at them like they put on their pants and shoulder pads the same way we do … not that they’re Superman.” Texas A&M (7-2, 4-2 SEC): Swedish tight end Theodor Melin Oherstrom (6-6, 245) is reclassifying and will enroll at Texas A&M in 2022. Vanderbilt (2-7, 0-5 SEC): Backup quarterback Jeremy Moussa has entered his name in the NCAA transfer portal. In limited action this season, Moussa completed 5-8 passes for 24 yards. SEC BASKETBALL Alabama (1-0): Keon Ellis had 18 points, nine rebounds and three assists as Alabama opened the season with a 93-64 blowout of Louisiana Tech. Arkansas (1-0): JD Notae had 30 points, two rebounds, two assists and seven steals to lead Arkansas past Mercer, 74-61. Auburn (1-0): Eastern Kentucky transfer Wendell Green Jr. had 19 points, five rebounds and three assists to lead four Auburn players in double figures in a 77-54 win over Morehead State. Georgia (1-0): Georgia outscored Florida International 36-24 in the second half to pull out a 58-51 win in the season opener. Kentucky (0-1): The Wildcats got 17 points and 19 rebounds from West Virginia transfer Oscar Tschiebwe but it wasn’t enough as Duke pulled away in the second half for a 79-71 win over UK. LSU (1-0): Darius Days hit 8-9 from the 3-point line in a 30-point effort as the Tigers opened with a 102-39 win over Louisiana-Monroe. Missouri (1-0): Five Tigers scored in double figures led by Javon Pickett’s 18 as Missouri opened with a 78-68 win over Central Michigan. Ole Miss (1-0): Four Rebels scored in double figures in an easy 82-61 win over New Orleans. South Carolina (1-0): Jermaine Couisnard had 14 points, six rebounds and seven assists to lead the Gamecocks past USC-Upstate, 78-60. Tennessee (1-0): Santiago Vescovi and Kennedy Chandler each scored 20 in Tennessee’s 90-62 win over UT-Martin. ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: The folks who whined last week about Cincinnati starting out sixth in the College Football Playoff rankings should feel silly after week two. The Bearcats have moved up to fifth and they’ll have a legitimate chance to crack the top four if they win out the rest of their games. Ohio State still has games remaining with Purdue, Michigan State and Michigan. Oregon has a habit of losing a game it shouldn’t and Alabama still has to play Auburn and if it gets to the SEC Championship Game, Georgia. I’m not convinced that Cincinnati is one of the four best teams, but if the Bearcats go unbeaten and there are losses ahead of them, they’ll probably make the playoff.

A few thoughts to jump start your Tuesday morning: WE UNDERESTIMATED THE IMPACT … A year ago it was dial-a-score. With Kyle Trask throwing with laser precision to Kyle Pitts, Kadarius Toney and Trevon Grimes every play was a potential touchdown, almost as if the Gators could score on demand. Damn! It was beautiful, the best passing game since the days of Danny Wuerffel throwing to Chris Doering, Reidel Anthony, Ike Hilliard and Jacquez Green. The straw that stirred the drink was Trask, a former no-star recruit who turned special when the lights came on. Give Dan Mullen a QB like that to go with special receivers like Pitts, Toney and Grimes and scoring 40 every game was to be expected. The only problem was the defense. Just as we knew the Gators could light it up, we also knew the other team could light up Todd Grantham’s defense and when they did make a critical stop, something stupid happened such as Marco Wilson throwing a shoe against LSU or a too many men on the field flag that negated a critical stop against Alabama when Kyree Campbell loafed as he neared the sideline. Florida lost by three to LSU, by six to Alabama. Take those penalties away and the Gators would have been SEC champs with a 10-1 record and the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff. Let’s face it, we were spoiled by Trask, Pitts, Toney and Grimes. We underestimated the impact of their departures for the No Fun League because we thought that Dan Mullen could work his quarterback magic on Emory Jones and turn him into the next big thing in the SEC just as he did with Trask, who nobody really knew until he burst on the scene in the fourth quarter of the Kentucky game in 2019. Having seen what Mullen did with Nick Fitzgerald at Mississippi State, I thought Jones was going to be a dual threat who would drive opposing defensive coordinators batty. Fitzgerald, for those of you who don’t remember, was deciding between offers from Chattanooga, Mercer and Samford when Mullen offered him a scholarship at Mississippi State. In his two years starting for Mullen, he threw for 4,205 yards and 36 touchdowns, ran for 2,315 yards and 30 more. I confess. I imagined that if Mullen could transform a high school wishbone QB like Fitzgerald into a legitimate SEC star caliber QB that turning Jones into a winner at Florida wouldn’t be all that difficult, particularly since this is Jones’ fourth year in the system. Well, I was wrong and while I know some of you will say I told you so, I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who thought Mullen could work his magic on Jones. We knew Emory Jones could run and he’s proven to be a very capable runner who can take a crease in the defense and turn it into 10 yards in a blink of an eye. The running hasn’t been the problem. It’s the passing. He’s thrown 12 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions. He ranks 83rd nationally in passing yardage. Only four of the 82 quarterbacks ranked ahead of him have thrown as many or more picks. We’ve seen him zip the ball into tight windows on occasions. Last Saturday at South Carolina he even showed that he can throw an accurate deep ball with bombs to Justin Shorter and Marcus Burke. Unfortunately, great throws are few and far between. Why Jones hasn’t become a star this season has everything to do with consistency and decision making. In the final three quarters against Alabama and the entire game against Tennessee, he looked like a star. At Kentucky, he made too many mistakes and only got the Gators into the end zone one time. At LSU, he threw two interceptions that were turned into short field touchdowns by the Tigers. He looked good in the final quarter against Georgia, quite average in the final three quarters at South Carolina. Don’t take this as heaping blame on Emory Jones. That’s not the case. I think he’s played to his capabilities. He’s simply a very good athlete who happens to play quarterback, someone who would be better suited playing in an offense like the one they run at Army, Navy or Air Force, where the QB runs the ball 20 times a game and throws almost entirely in surprise situations. He’s a good kid and an exceptional teammate by all accounts. He should be praised for doing his best at all times, but he has never been the solution to this Florida football team. We expected too much of Jones, and therefore expected way too much of this Florida football team. You don’t win in the SEC without good quarterback play. The QBs don’t have to be stars necessarily but they can’t make the bad decisions that get you beaten. Georgia is No. 1 in the nation this year, not because Stetson Bennett IV is a stud but because he makes good decisions and doesn’t make the critical mistakes that beat the Bulldogs. I hope that Emory Jones plays like a superstar in Florida’s final three games. I hope the lights go on and the bad decisions become a thing of the past. I hope, but I’m not counting on it. I expected way too much of the Gators this season. I thought the dynamics of the offense would change because of Jones’ skill set but I never thought the offense would be as big a problem as the defense. I underestimated the impact of Kyle Trask leaving for the NFL and I overestimated the ability of Emory Jones to keep the Gators in the SEC championship race just as I overestimated that Todd Grantham would revert to the defensive coordinator that he was in 2019. I’m probably not the only one. GATORS OPEN THE BASKETBALL SEASON AT HOME WITH ELON TONIGHT You might not be able to tell all the Florida basketball players without a program tonight when the Gators open their 2021-22 season at home with Elon (8 p.m., SEC Network+). Colin Castleton and Anthony Duruji you will recognize in the starting lineup but the other three starters are from the four transfers that Mike White welcomed into the program back during the spring – Brandon McKissic, Myreon Jones and Phlandrous Fleming Jr. Castleton (6-11, 231) averaged 12.4 points and 6-4 rebounds per game last season after transferring to UF from Michigan. Duruji (6-7, 220), who began his collegiate career at Louisiana Tech, averaged 6.1 points and 4.4 rebounds after taking a transfer redshirt in 2019-20. McKissic (6-3, 185) was the Summit League’s Defensive Player of the Year and a finalist for the Lefty Driesell National Defensive Player of the Year last year at Missouri-Kansas City, where he averaged 17.2 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. Jones (6-3, 175) averaged 15.3 points per game at Penn State where he was one of the Big Ten’s best 3-point shooters. Fleming (6-5, 205) was the Big South Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year where he averaged 20.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. This will actually be the smallest Florida team of the Mike White era, but it has the potential to be his best defensive team since the 2017 team that made it to the Elite Eight. White will probably play his entire bench against Elon, a member of the Colonial Athletic Association, but the bulk of the reserve minutes will go to Tyree Appleby (6-1, 163), who averaged 11.3 points per game last year as the starter at the point, Boston College transfer C.J. Felder (6-7, 230) and freshman Kowacie Reeves (6-6, 182). Elsewhere in the SEC: UT-Martin at Tennessee; USC-Upstate at South Carolina; Florida International at Georgia; New Orleans at Ole Miss; Mercer at Arkansas; Morehead State at Auburn; Louisiana-Monroe at LSU; Central Michigan at Missouri; Louisiana Tech at Alabama; Kentucky vs. Duke (Madison Square Garden) COUNTDOWN TO FIRING DAY WEEK TEN Extinct Species List Les Miles, Kansas (Permanent replacement Lance Leipold) Randy Edsall, UConn Clay Helton, Southern Cal Chad Lunsford, Georgia Southern (Permanent replacement Clay Helton) Ed Orgeron, LSU Nick Rolovich, Washington State Matt Wells, Texas Tech (Permanent replacement Joey McGuire) Gary Patterson, TCU Tom Arth, Akron Walt Bell, UMass On Life Support Butch Davis, Florida International: Butch is on borrowed time. He’s 1-8 this year, 1-13 since last year. They need someone young who will work cheap. Marcus Arroyo, UNLV: The streak is over! UNLV beat New Mexico, 31-17, so now Arroyo is 1-14 for his collegiate head coaching career. He gets to start a new streak this week against Hawaii. Justin Fuente, Virginia Tech: Losing 17-3 to Boston College has Fuente teetering on the verge. He’s 4-5 and needs to win two of the last three as long as one of the two is Virginia. Endangered Species List Scott Frost, Nebraska: He’s been given a reprieve but it came with a price. He had to fire four coaches. The contract has been restructured and it’s expected that his $20 million buyout is part of the restructuring. Scot Loeffler, Bowling Green: Lefty has unexpected wins over Minnesota (shocker) and Buffalo. Will that be enough to get another year? Dino Babers, Syracuse: They really don’t want to fire him, but they would feel a lot better about things if he would win at least one of the last three to go 6-6 and bowl eligible. Chip Kelly, UCLA: The scheduling gods are merciful. The final three games are Colorado, Southern Cal and Cal. At 8-4, he’s as good as hanging around one more year. Seth Littrell, North Texas: The Mean Green have won two straight, but two of the next three are quite losable and he needs to go 3-0. Phil Montgomery, Tulsa: The Phighting Phils had four cracks at the end zone to beat Cincinnati and blew the upset. If he can win two out of the last three to finish 5-7 it will buy a lot of good will. Steve Addazio, Colorado State: The Lambs are on a three-game losing bender and there’s a real good chance they’ll stretch it to six. The folks who questioned this hire in the first place are getting more vocal. Justin Wilcox, California: His seat was cooling until he lost to Arizona, 10-3. The only things that might save him now are going 3-0 and the buyout. Manny Diaz, Miami: The Hurricanes have won three straight and are 5-4. There is a good chance they’ll finish the season on a 6-game winning bender, which means they’ll be stuck with Manny for awhile. Jeff Scott, South Florida: He’s safe for this year, but next year he will have to produce. He’s 3-15 with only one win over a Division I team. David Cutcliffe, Duke: He’s 67 years old and the folks in Durham are starting to believe it’s time to bring in some young blood. Jimmy Lake, Washington: He fired his offensive coordinator, but got suspended without pay for striking a player on the helmet. That wouldn’t have gotten a suspension in the 1960s, but the time they have changed. His biggest problem is he isn’t winning and the Pac-12 is weak. Geoff Collins, Georgia Tech: He’s won three games in each of his three years on the job and it’s doubtful he wins any of the last three. The natives are getting restless. ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: The second College Football Playoff poll comes out tonight. It’s a foregone conclusion that Georgia will hold down the No. 1 ranking but there will be a shakeup after a weekend that saw No. 2 Alabama struggle against LSU; No. 3 Michigan State lose to Purdue; No. 4 Oregon play it close with Washington; No. 5 Ohio State struggle with Nebraska; and No. 6 Cincinnati hold on for dear life against Tulsa. I expect the top ten to look something like this: 1. Georgia; 2. Alabama; 3. Oregon; 4. Ohio State; 5. Oklahoma; 6. Cincinnati; 7. Michigan State; 8. Michigan; 9. Oklahoma State and 10. Notre Dame.

Following the 2016 season in which Notre Dame went 4-8, capping a three-year run of disappointment (22-16 record), Brian Kelly did a no sacred cows evaluation of his football program. Recruiting was poor. Discipline was lacking. Players were unhappy. The coaching staff seemed to have gotten complacent and the strength and conditioning staff just wasn’t getting the job done. Kelly was thought to have one foot out the door when he and athletic director Jack Swarbrick came up with a plan to revitalize the football program. They interviewed everyone on the staff. They interviewed players. They asked tough questions and then listened carefully to their answers. When that was over and done with the decision was a complete overhaul of the football program was a necessity. Then came the tough part. Coaches were fired, some of them Kelly’s good friends. Some stayed one step ahead of the pink slip by taking gainful employment elsewhere. Offensive coordinator Mike Sanford Jr. took the head coaching job at Western Kentucky (he probably would have been fired if he hadn’t). The entire strength and conditioning staff was replaced and Matt Balis was brought to bring some toughness to the program. In the years since, Kelly hasn’t hesitated to make changes to his staff when he saw the Irish lagging in any area. Chip Long, who replaced Sanford as the offensive coordinator, was fired in 2020 and Kelly promoted Tommy Rees from quarterbacks coach to coordinator. Notre Dame is 51-9 since Kelly changed course and made wholesale changes to his staff. Kelly went from on the brink to a coach whose job is safe and secure. Judging by the performance of his offensive line this year, it’s almost a certainty that offensive line coach Jeff Quinn will be replaced. The situation with Brian Kelly is not dissimilar to the one Dan Mullen currently finds himself in at the University of Florida. Kelly fired defensive coordinator Brian Van Gorder during the 2016 season after the Irish had given up 74 points and 999 yards in consecutive losses to Michigan State and Duke teams that finished that season with a combined 7-17 record. Mullen just relieved Todd Grantham of his coaching duties after a debacle in which a bad South Carolina team ran for 286 yards and hung 40 points on the Gators. Kelly got Notre Dame back on track by cracking down on discipline issues, bringing in coaches who were better recruiters and putting Balis in charge of resurrecting toughness in the program. Mullen does have discipline issues within the team and he knows it. He also knows that he has to change the way he recruits pronto. Nick Savage is a fine strength and conditioning coordinator but perhaps Mullen needs to give him more leeway to bring back the toughness to the team. At his Monday press conference, Mullen alluded to the toughness and discipline issues in an offhand manner. At South Carolina, Mullen said, “Saturday we didn’t play with great effort. We didn’t play with great toughness. That’s not acceptable.” Here is how that translates: The Gators were anything but tough and were worked over by a South Carolina team that played as if the game were its Super Bowl. The Gators didn’t have the toughness or discipline to fight back. Coaches and observers who have watched the Gators this season have commented on the lack of toughness and discipline, so it’s not a great secret that these issues were at the heart of the 40-17 beating. When you compare the lack of toughness and effort against South Carolina, it makes you wonder how it is for three quarters the Gators stuck it to Alabama. Florida’s offensive line manhandled the Alabama defensive line en route to 258 rushing yards. Since 2009, Alabama has only given up 250 or more rushing yards six times. Once past the first quarter, the Florida defensive line out-physicaled the Alabama O-line. Alabama managed only 91 yards on the ground. How could Florida play so well against Alabama, which is ranked second in the College Football Playoff poll, and then have a game like South Carolina when the Gators not only couldn’t stop the Gamecocks from running the ball, but couldn’t run on a defense that Texas A&M ran for 290 yards on two weeks earlier? Inconsistency like that has plenty to do with why Grantham and O-line coach John Hevesy woke up unemployed Monday morning. “I think Todd’s an excellent, excellent football coach and there’s times that we’ve played great defense,” Mullen said. “We just haven’t done it consistently. We’re one of the top rushing teams in the country … we just haven’t been consistent with John and the offensive line. At this point in the season, that was something that hit me? Do we get through the season and look to make changes after the season or do we just make that move now? If it’s something I think I was going to do at the end of the season – and I think I was pretty set that I was going to make some changes at the end of the year – I thought we might as well do it now and move on so we can go search for who we’re looking to replace.” There will be more staff changes. That is inevitable. The firings of Grantham and Hevesy in all likelihood resonated like a cannon-shot across the bow of the remaining coaches on the staff. When the head coach fires people with three games to go in the season, it’s a sure sign that everyone remaining is coaching for his future. Mullen fired coaches who had been with him a long time and were his friends. That should tell everyone on the staff there are no sacred cows, that everyone on the staff is replaceable. Kelly didn’t have an early signing period to deal with in 2016 so there wasn’t nearly the urgency in making changes as there is for Mullen. When the clock flatlines at zero on November 27 when the Gators play Florida State at The Swamp, it can be expected that several current Florida coaches will be cleaning out their offices the next morning. And, Mullen will be on the phone, either setting up interviews or else hiring people he knows and trusts to come join him in Gainesville. Some people might think there will be a lack of confidence in Mullen which therefore will create shortage of high-profile candidates to join the Florida staff. That idea might make the rounds on the internet and on message boards, but Mullen will have his choice of plenty of qualified candidates. “This is Florida so there’s a long list of people that want any job they can get at the University of Florida in any aspect,” Mullen said. The same held true for Brian Kelly at Notre Dame back in 2016. Just as Notre Dame is a national brand, so is the University of Florida. Kelly’s history was and is winning football games. Mullen won, lest we forget, at Mississippi State, where nobody else has come close to matching his success. He’s also won 33 games in a little less than four years at Florida. He was 29-6 before the three-game losing streak at the end of 2020 and the carryover disappointment of 4-5 so far in 2021. It is indeed Florida. It is the Southeastern Conference. There will be good coaches who want the UF job. The trick will be to find the ones who are the best fit for Florida and who can hit the recruiting trail running. He is already formulating ideas about who he wants to bring in although he did make it a point to emphasize he’s not going to be making any new hires until after the regular season concludes. “Right now we’re getting ready to play Samford as well,” Mullen said. “You’ve got this week’s game plan. Obviously, there’s a little bit more deal with making sure our players, everybody’s on the same page and understands what we need to do moving forward. You’ve got all the recruiting stuff going on within our program, so when you combine all that stuff, it hasn’t been the last 24 hours of me just going complete job search, looking for candidates that way. But the benefit of being here at Florida is there’s going to be a lot of people that want to come coach for the Florida Gators and be a part of this program. “… I think what is most important is to get the best coach who can do in recruiting as well as coaching and developing our players. It has to fit what we expect at the University of Florida. We’re going to search hard and get the right people for this program.” Attrition is part of the college football landscape. Not every place is like Clemson where Dabo Swinney has had very little turnover for the better part of 10 years. Continuity has worked well for Dabo, who is 117-17 since 2012 with two national championships. Turnover is almost expected at Alabama where Nick Saban has had eight different offensive coordinators, five defensive coordinators, six offensive line coaches and six defensive line coaches in 14 years. Nick is 178-24 with six national championships since 2007. Mullen doesn’t have the track record of championships that Dabo and Nick have, but will have the facilities upgrades that have put Florida behind the better programs in the country within a few short months. That will help enormously with recruiting, but so will hiring the right assistant coaches to step in and get Florida past this 4-8 speed bump that has existed since December of 2020. Back in 2016 Brian Kelly had to look in the mirror and decide that the issues plaguing the Notre Dame program were of his own doing. He took ownership of the problems, jettisoned some coaches who were hindrances and brought in new blood. The results are there for everyone to see. When Dabo Swinney went down in flames at the 2011 Orange Bowl (70-33 loss to West Virginia), he fired Kevin Steele and brought in Brent Venables to coordinate the defense. Steele was a buddy so it was a painful divorce. Saban has been a bit more cold-blooded about the comings and goings on his staff, but he’s actually thrived in the chaos. We won’t know for a few weeks how many more changes Dan Mullen feels the need to make to right the Florida ship, but this much we can know for sure: If he brings in the right coaches he can survive this difficult stretch and get the Florida Gators back on a success trajectory like they were on the first 35 games of his tenure at UF. If Grantham and Hevesy are the only coaches that are dismissed, then it will be very difficult for Mullen to regain the lost momentum. Change is necessary. The first steps, although difficult since Grantham and Hevesy are friends, have been taken. The next steps will be no less painful but necessary if Dan Mullen intends to be the head coach at the University of Florida for any length of time.

Dan Mullen severed his ties with two loyal assistants and hopes to jumpstart the Gators. (Chris Spears Photo) The near-win over Alabama provided camouflage for what was truly ailing this team and a blind eye was turned by all. First, no one had any indication at this point Florida would not be able to win on another team’s campus, but that is almost beside the point. By CARLTON REESE GatorBaitColumnist He paid heed to the clamoring among us, we the self-anointed praetorian guard of UF football. And just like that, with the wave of his hand Dan Mullen has rid us all of that pesky nuisance named Todd Grantham, the first in a line of many scapegoats for what has turned a once-promising campaign into one that has the chaos of a burning Rome. Instead of playing the lyre and reciting hisTroyad, Mullen has taken action to turn the tide of this conflagration by making the necessary sacrifices. We say farewell to the maligned defensive coordinator as well as offensive line coach John Hevesy, two coaches set afoot as means of a controlled burn around Mullen. For now, this takes some heat off Mullen, who is showing he can at least sever the ties of loyalty which has been among his trademarks – he and Hevesy have been together on coaching staffs for nearly all of the last 20 years. For Mullen to cut loose these two guys is a clear indication things may be even more rotten inside the program than even the most cynical of fans believe. Heading to Lexington, the Gators were 3-1 after having just throttled Tennessee and nearly defeating top-ranked Alabama. Yes, there were chinks in the armor we noticed in victories over FAU and South Florida, but those were soon forgotten when a mere successful PAT could have spelled a win over the Tide. The consuls around Mullen seemed perfectly capable of delivering a serious run toward Atlanta and not a peep could be heard in the halls the Florida palatine nor among the jersey-clad plebeians. So where did it all begin to break down? The near-win over Alabama provided camouflage for what was truly ailing this team and a blind eye was turned by all. First, no one had any indication at this point Florida would not be able to win on another team’s campus, but that is almost beside the point. The offensive line was too undisciplined to handle the crowd noise in Kentucky – keep in mind, the game was not played in Rupp Arena but in the friendly confines of Commonwealth Stadium, not exactly known for intimidating opposing teams. Defensively, Florida put together an effort that should have yielded a relatively easy win for a team under the guidance of an offensive mind as stout as Mullen’s. The foundation was shaky heading into the Vanderbilt game, which despite the score, was not the dominating performance all would expect. Mullen himself fumed throughout the contest and even after. Let us not forget that Grantham’s defensive woes were not the spark of this collapse – it was the offense. Not until the Gators traveled to Baton Rouge did the defense decide to contribute to the arson, and no one saw that coming. Let none among us claim to be the soothsayer of this debacle. Against Georgia, Grantham’s defense performed admirably despite the scoreboard showing 34 points for the opposition – we need not ponder the accounting for those points, except to merely point out that most of them were the fault of Florida’s offense. Heading to South Carolina, then, there was no reason to suspect the defense would melt down the way it did against what may have been the second-worst offense faced by the Gators this season. Whatever goodwill Grantham had accumulated in a mostly-commendable season outside of the LSU vaporization, completely vanished in Columbia. No hapless offense such as the Gamecocks’ pushes a team around the way it did on Saturday night no matter who may have been sick during the week. Grantham was safe before the visit to Columbia. All he needed was a mediocre performance from his squad and an offense to carry the team to victory in a game that should have been won by merely stepping safely off the bus. That did not happen, and so Grantham and Hevesy are looking for work. What transpires the rest of the season is perhaps the toughest guesswork of all: Surely a win over Samford can be expected, but does anyone feel confident about winning at Missouri or even at home against Florida State? As absurd as it seems, winning all three may come as surprise to most people. And now that Rome has burned, everyone must understand that it cannot be rebuilt in a day. Everyone wants to be Alabama, but no school of Florida’s academic stature will ever be Alabama, nor should that even be a goal. The goal is to compete on an annual basis and be in the national conversation in a positive way. It’s not about creating a perpetual empire the Nick Saban way. For now, Kirby Smart has his recruiting empire in Athens as does Saban in Tuscaloosa and Ryan Day in Columbus, Ohio. I doubt Mullen will ever get to that level no matter how good of a coach he is. But remember this: Saban is an unattainable measuring stick and Smart has never won the big one. In time, all empires are destined to crumble with others rising to replace them. For the moment, there is little consolation in that notion, not when you’re 4-5 and firing assistants to satiate the bloodlust of a rabid fanbase and have not made any serious run at a championship since 2009. Nonetheless, it is time to rebuild, and Mullen has begun the process by bringing in the demolition crew. If he’s not careful, that wrecking ball will swing back in his direction, and sooner than he’d ever imagine.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a Great Fall…. Yeah, I can understand some Florida fans wanting to wear brown paper sacks on their heads, or eschewing orange and blue for all-black sackcloth attire. This is mourning time. Something appears to have died within their spirit, which now is on life support. After what happened Saturday, a deep abiding sadness has swept across the Gator Nation. As somebody deeply ensconced with the fan base through GatorBait, social media and my live streaming show, I could feel and hear the excruciating pain during and after Saturday’s unexplainable 40-17 thumping by a heretofore weak and unimpressive South Carolina. For most of the past half century, I’ve heard fans grouse a million times. However, this sounds like the hue and cry of good people who can’t bear the pain and disappointment anymore. One of my most passionate and loyal Gator fan friends texted in the fourth quarter: “This breaks my Gator heart.” My response: “There are a lot of broken Gator hearts tonight.” After the game: Him: “Man so where do we go from here?” Me: “To bed. See what tomorrow brings. Everything is on the table now. Everything.” Today is here. And I still don’t have an answer. I’m having trouble finding a silver lining. Maybe not yet declaring Armageddon. But perhaps it’s trending. Here’s the harsh reality: I was wrong. This isn’t an 8-4 team. It looks more like a 4-8 team. Clearly Dan Mullen’s future is murky, if not endangered. I won’t even go into the multiple scenarios that are portended, like buyouts and replacement candidates, because that brings into play more potential variants than a grandmaster chess match. And my math isn’t that good. Or my chess. Let’s just say big changes are not just necessary, but mandated, before this program turns to shambles. In what seems like just yesterday, Mullen was beginning to sparkle as a Golden-Boy-work-in-progress. Actually, only 11 games ago, Dan was on an upward trajectory which catapulted him into a financial stratosphere of the financially elite coaches, sixth highest paid at $7.6M. Which came at an odd time. Going into the LSU game on Dec. 12, 2020 the Gators had lost only to Texas A&M, beaten Georgia and were headed to the SEC Championship game to play Alabama, whom they would challenge toe-to-toe before losing. Almost concurrently, unbeknownst to us, The Great Fall was about to begin. The volatility of coaching careers lives on a hairpin trigger and can change with the suddenness of a lightning bolt. Ten minutes ago, Mark Stoops was being hailed as the savior of the Kentucky program and maybe another Wildcat icon. Some thought Josh Heupel was about to be buried as yet another Vol Boot Hill Cemetery along with the other Tennessee mistakes. In a complete reversal of fortune, Kentucky lost three straight after winning its first six. Tennessee beat the Wildcats Saturday, 45-42, and is looking like the second best team in the East, having also vanquished that same Gamecock team 45-20 a few weeks ago. Oddly, one of Florida’s only four victories came over the Vols. What happened in Columbia? Honestly nobody saw this crash-and-burn coming. Not Las Vegas (UF was a three-touchdown favorite). Not Mullen, who said he had no clue of all this going amiss, but wasn’t “stunned” by the upset because he’s been around football long enough to see pretty much everything. And certainly not the media or the fans. A lot us like and root for Dan, but that number is diminishing rapidly. In all the many decades I’ve been covering Florida football, this may have been the most painful and disheartening loss ever for the Gator Nation fan base. Worse than the Nebraska beatdown in the 1996 Fiesta Bowl. More painful than the Georgia Southern upset Nov. 23, 2013. This was supposed to be the start of a four-game win streak/turnaround. In Mullen’s fourth season, building on the success of his offensive scheme, this team was supposed to be a challenger for the SEC title – especially after strong back-to-back performances vs. Alabama. Instead, the bottom had dropped out. And the Great Fall has slipped the Florida program into such a steep abyss that it might not be retrievable anytime soon. As I sat listening to Mullen’s presser Saturday night, it occurred to me that Dan has almost lost his way. We could dial up the usual excuses, but that ship has sailed, and almost sunk by now. Frankly nobody has answers -- including me – but Scott Stricklin is going to have to find them in a hurry. Of particular concern for me would be how oblivious Dan sometimes seems to his surroundings. For instance, when asked why his team didn’t stand and sing with the Florida band, which made a long trip on a cold South Carolina night to be there, he replied he didn’t even know they were there and “we’ll sing with them when we get back home in Swamp.” How could that be? This was how one Tweeter wrote it in a mock description of a Mullen quote compendium from the last 11 games: “I didn’t see the shoe.” “I didn’t see the band.” “I didn’t see the score.” “I didn’t see players on their heels.” It leads me to believe somebody needs to be assigned to Mullen’s side at all times just to remind him of the small things that could become big things. That role, in part, was often played by Senior Associate AD Steve McClain, who has been promoted pretty much out of sight. To my knowledge, nobody else has filled that void. Flirting with the truth is not very flattering. Among the challenges ahead for Dan Mullen -- and there are many -- is transparency. (Photo by Chris Spears) Most troubling is Mullen’s lack of credibility due his to omission of facts in press conferences and a reluctance to level with the media. Forget that he won’t talk about injuries – OK maybe we can understand that. However, his statement that his squad had a “great week of practice” when in reality in some days there were “20 to 30 players out” because of some unidentified virus/illness is anything but transparency. So I am left wondering why and what else is missing? I ponder questions like: Is one of the missing elements Brian Johnson, who left to coach the Eagles quarterbacks? He doesn’t coach defense, but perhaps he’s a badly needed confidant for Mullen. Why was a weak Gamecock rushing attack able to dominate Florida’s front seven and, only now, has Mullen begun to address the shortcomings on both lines of scrimmage? And there are these endless criticisms of how the Gamecocks scored more points vs. the Gators than any team in history … the 23-point difference was the largest ever … and South Carolina allowed the fewest points scored by Florida (17). That pales in comparison to Chris Doering’s point about getting beat by a squad with only 79 scholarship players and a third string quarterback who once played for tiny St. Francis. One of saddest days in Gator football history. The sadness was reflected in this tweet from hard-playing LB/tackling machine Mohamoud Diabate: “I’m sorry Gator Nation, On God I try to give everyone my all on the field, these moments are where you learn about yourself and those around you. Stay tuned.” And this tweet from a dumb-founded, desperate Gator fan, trying so hard to hang on to one shred of hope: “Serious question: Is Samford any good?” In the days ahead, Stricklin faces the enormous challenge of fixing the gaping hole in Gator football created by The Great Fall, best illustrated by the end of the end of the nursery rhyme: “All the king horses, and all the king’s men Couldn’t put Humpty together again.”

The Sunday night dismissals of Todd Grantham and John Hevesy are unsual for Florida, which hasn’t changed assistant coaches while a season has been in progress for at least the last 30 years. Florida has changed head coaches while a season is in progress: Ron Zook (2004), Will Muschamp (2014) and Jim McElwain (2017). Dan Mullen actually hasn’t had tremendous staff turnover during his three-plus years on the Florida job. He went 29-6 through his first 35 games as the Florida head coach, but is just 4-8 in the 12 games since with only wins over Tennessee and Vanderbilt in the SEC, both this year. It’s the 4-8 and the inconsistencies that went with it that got Grantham and Hevesy pink slipped. Will these be the last of the changes? Mullen is going to be on a very short leash moving forward. If the Gators crater out the remaining three games, it’s dicey whether he will be given a shot at rebuilding what has gone south so quickly. But, even if he does win the next three games and perhaps a bowl game for an 8-5 finish, Mullen can’t expect to stay gainfully employed for more than another year if there aren’t significant changes in his own demeanor – which has come across arrogant and somewhat surly recently – and in the enthusiasm for recruiting by his entire staff. It is the lack of recruiting that seems to indicate that the Sunday night changes won’t be the last. Here is a look at assistant coaches and staff turnover from the past 20 years: 2002-04: Ron Zook’s first staff included Ed Zaunbrecher (offensive coordinator/quarterbacks), John Thompson (defensive coordinator), Mike Woodford secondary, Red Anderson (defensive line), Joe Wickline (offensive line), Dwayne Dixon (wide receivers), Larry Fedora running backs, Jerry Odom (inside linebackers) and Tyke Tolbert (tight ends/recruiting coordinator) The 2003 staff saw Charlie Strong replace Thompson as the defensive coordinator, Bill Miller replace Odom as the inside linebackers coach, and Mike Locksley take over as the running backs coach and recruiting coordinator. Fedora became the passing game coordinator and coached wide receivers and tight ends. The 2004 staff saw more change. Fedora became the offensive coordinator, which he should have been from day one. Zaunbrecher lost coordinator duties but remained quarterbacks coach. Dan Disch became the secondary coach, replacing Woodford. Conclusion: Zook had never been a head coach before becoming the surprise hire to replace Steve Spurrier. He got off to a bad start with his first staff with Ed Zaunbrecher as the offensive coordinator and John Thompson as the defensive coordinator. It has been said by people who were close to the program that Zook was so ill-prepared to be a head coach that Zaumbrecher and Thompson were thrust upon him. They weren’t very good. That first staff actually had four competent coaches – Fedora, Wickline, Dixon and Tolbert. If Fedora and Strong had been the coordinators from day one, Zook might have lasted more than three years. 2005-10: Charlie Strong was the only holdover on Urban Meyer’s first Florida staff in 2005. Strong was co-defensive coordinator along with Greg Mattison. Dan Mullen was the defensive coordinator. The rest of the staff was Stan Drayton (running backs), Billy Gonzales (wide receivers), Chuck Heater (cornerbacks/recruiting coordinator), Doc Holliday (safeties), John Hevesy (centers/guards) and Steve Addazio (tackles/tight ends). There were no staff changes until 2008 when Doc Holliday left to become the assistant head coach at West Virginia, Drayton left to coach running backs at Tennessee and Mattison became the defensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens. The replacements were Vance Bedford (corners), Kenny Carter (running backs) and Dan McCarney (defensive line). Hevesy was switched to tight ends and tackles, while Addazio took over the interior O-line and Heater coached the safeties. This staff of Strong, Mullen, Addazio, Hevesy, Gonzales, Heater, Carter, Bedford and McCarney is considered one of the better staffs in the past 30 years of college football. In 2009, Mullen became the head coach at Mississippi State, joined by Hevesy as the O-line coach. Addazio took on the title of offensive coordinator and coached the entire O-line. Scot Loeffler became the quarterbacks coach and Brian White was hired to coach tight ends. The defensive staff remained intact. This was the first crack in Meyer’s armor. Addazio as the OC and Loeffler coaching the quarterbacks were a step down. The defensive staff remained the same. The Gators finished 6th nationally in total offense although scoring took a dip. The defense finished 4th. The 2010 staff was the one that really changed Florida football and not in a good way. Strong left to become the head coach at Louisville, taking Bedford and Carter with him. Gonzales left to become the wide receivers/passing game coordinator at LSU. The replacements were Drayton, returning to coach running backs, Zach Azzanni at wide receivers, D.J. Durkin to coach outside linebackers and Teryl Austin as the defensive coordinator. The offense continued to sputter with Addazio, whose O-line suffered for a second straight year with him splitting duties between offensive coordinator and the line. Azzanni was a weak replacement for Gonzales. Austin never did connect with players and seemed to be ready to head back to the NFL by midseason. Florida went from consecutive 13-1 seasons to 8-5. Meyer resigned effective after the Outback Bowl game with Penn State. There were enough good players on defense that the Gators finished 9th but the offense dropped all the way to 83rd. Conclusion: From 2005-08 Meyer had it going at UF. He won two national championships in large part because when he made staff changes, the people he brought in were equal to or better than the ones they replaced. Things began to unravel in 2009 when he put Addazio in charge of the offense. His 2010 staff, top to bottom wasn’t even close to the ability of the staffs from 2005-08, which is why the Gators fell off the cliff. 2011-14: Will Muschamp succeeded Meyer as Florida’s head coach. His first defensive staff was excellent, but in what would become a recurring theme, his offensive staff was lacking. Muschamp’s defensive coordinator was Dan Quinn, who later won a Super Bowl as defensive coordinator with the Seattle Seahawks and the Atlanta Falcons head coach. Also on the defensive staff were D.J. Durkin (linebackers/special teams coordinator), who would become the DC at Michigan and head coach at Maryland, Bryant Young (D-line), who has been nominated to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and Travaris Robinson (secondary). The issues were with offensive coordinator Charlie Weis and O-line coach Frank Verducci. People who know Muschamp well say he didn’t want Weis but pretty much had him forced upon him. Weis wanted Verducci, who was terrible. Aubrey Hill coached the wide receivers and Derek Lewis the tight ends. The offense finished 105thnationally while the defense finished 8th. The defensive staff remained intact in 2012 when the Gators went to the Sugar Bowl with the nation’s 5th-ranked defense. Weis and Verducci were gone, replaced by Brent Pease (OC/QB) and Tim Davis (OL). As good as the defense was, the offense finished 104th nationally. Lewis and Pease split the duties of coaching the wide receivers. The 2013 staff was vastly different. Quinn left for the Seahawks, replaced as DC by Durkin. Brad Lawing replaced Young as the D-line coach. Joker Phillips became the wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator. Jeff Choate became the linebackers coach and special teams coordinator. Despite a 4-7 record, the Gators finished 8th nationally in defense, but the offense was abysmal, finishing 115th. The 2014 season was Muschamp’s final year. Muschamp replaced Pease with Kurt Roper as OC/QB. When Phillips broke NCAA rules and lied about it, he was replaced as wide receivers coach by Chris Leak. Davis was replaced on the O-line by Mike Summers and Coleman Hutzler became the special teams coordinator. The offense averaged 30 points per game for the first time in the Muschamp era, but finished 96th nationally. The defense finished 15th. Conclusion: Muschamp was a super defensive coordinator and one of the best recruiters to be found, but like Zook, he had never been a head coach. Had he spent four or five years at an outpost in the MAC or Sun Belt, learning all the nuances of being a head coach, he would have been prepared for all the non-football duties of the Florida head coach. When he was fired at Florida, he took a job at South Carolina, where it’s going to take a true coaching genius (like Spurrier) to win with any consistency. At Florida, Muschamp got off to a bad start when he had Weis and Verducci on his first staff. They were poison. Muschamp’s defenses were exceptional but he never had a competent outstanding offensive staff. 2015-17: Muschamp was fired after a 7-6 season in 2014, replaced by Jim McElwain, who told us at his first press conference that he was such a good offensive coach that his dog Clarabelle could be a star at quarterback. Doug Nussmeier was his offensive coordinator and QB coach. Geoff Collins came to UF from Mississippi State to be the DC. The rest of the staff was Greg Nord (TE/ST), Tim Skipper (RB), Kerry Dixon II (WR), Summers (OL), Randy Shannon (LB), Chris Rumph (DL) and Kirk Callahan (secondary). The defense, which was loaded from Muschamp’s time on the job, finished 8th nationally. Clarabelle was probably needed to help out with the offense, which finished 112th. Year two (2016) saw Nussmeier and Collins return as the coordinators. The only staff change was Torrian Gray, who took over the secondary when Callahan was dismissed. The offense was worse in 2016 (116th) while the defense, still loaded with players Muschamp recruited, finished 5th. There were changes to the staff after 2016. Shannon became the defensive coordinator and succeeded McElwain as head coach on an interim basis when McElwain was fired after the Georgia game on October 29. Nussmeier remained the OC and Rumph became the interim DC when Shannon became the head coach. Newbies to the staff were Brad Davis (OL), Robb Akey (DL after Shannon became interim head coach), Ja’Juan Seider (running backs), Corey Bell (secondary) and Skipper, who moved from running backs to linebackers. The defense dropped all the way to 31st, but the offense remained jammed in neutral, finishing 110th. Conclusion: Florida would have been better off keeping Muschamp three additional years than hiring Jim McElwain. He was a bad fit as Florida’s head coach and never really embraced a fan base that really wanted him to succeed. His offenses stunk and that Clarabelle remark haunted him the entire time he was here. More than one person who has had inside access to the UF football program has suggested that the death threats story was a ploy to get himself fired because he couldn’t handle the pressure of the job. Mac is at Central Michigan now. That’s the kind of place he can succeed because there is zero pressure to win national championships. He can go 8-4 there and folks will think he’s a genius. 2018-Present: On his first Florida staff, Mullen brought with him from Mississippi State Grantham (DC), Hevesy (OL), Gonzales (WR), Greg Knox (RB/ST) and Ron English (safeties). Brian Johnson, who Mullen recruited to Utah back in 2004 and who had coached quarterbacks for Mullen at Mississippi State, rejoined Mullen after a year on the staff at Houston. The rest of the staff was Sal Sunseri (DL), Larry Scott (TE), Charlton Warren (corners) and Christian Robinson (LB). The offense finished 42nd, its highest finish since the Tebow years. The defense finished 28th. Year two of the Mullen era saw David Turner replace Sunseri as the D-line coach and Gray return to UF to coach the corners. Florida finished 16th nationally in total offense, 9th in total defense. Tim Brewster was the only change to the 2020 coaching staff as Scott left to become the head coach at Howard University. Florida finished 9th in total offense, but the defense slid all the way down to 83rd. The 2020 defense was statistically the worst in Florida football history. Prior to Sunday night, Mullen’s staff had three new coaches – Garrick McGee (QB), who replaced Brian Johnson who went to the NFL Philadelphia Eagles as QB coach; Wesley McGriff, who replaced English as the safeties coach; and Jules Montinar, who replaced Gray. English and Gray were dismissed after the 2020 season. English is now the co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach at Purdue, while Gray coaches the secondary for South Carolina. Conclusion: The Dan Mullen of 2018-19 was one to embrace. The Mullen of the last two years doesn’t show the same love of the job. A lot of observers think he gives the impression that he would much rather be someplace else, a notion that has only grown wings and flown since that rumor that he was very interested in the NFL during December of 2020. Recruiting has not been the kind that can consistently bring championship-level football to Florida so he’s going to have to make amends in the offseason if he intends to be coaching here in the future. Since he isn’t going to win immediately with freshmen, he needs to balance this class with solid players who can be developed with careful recruiting from the transfer portal. Mel Tucker at Michigan State transformed that program with 21 transfers who have helped the Spartans become national championship contenders. Whatever choices he makes, however, Mullen has to prioritize assistant coaches who are standout recruiters. Judging by the way the remaining coaches on his staff recruit, we can only conclude that there will be several new faces on the 2022 staff, providing of course, that Mullen is the head coach.

His days may be numbered, but Dan Mullen has more problems than Todd Grantham. (Photo by Chris Spears) Mullen and Grantham can look forward to the worst week of their lives, but Saturday’s embarrassment was a total team effort. By CARLTON REESE GatorBait Columnist There is one piece of good news if you are Florida Gators fan: Absolutely no players are on the juice. There will be no steroid scandal in Gainesville to explain the bestial nature of its players that overwhelm the opposition through the sheer might of their grotesque sinew. Now, it’s the small person who beats up a man when he is already down… so here goes: The Florida Gators have mailed it in, just in case you hadn’t noticed. Fact is, that letter was postmarked in Jacksonville around 5:30 p.m. Oct. 30. Not sure if Samford will receive the news, but South Carolina certainly did while Missouri and Florida State are eagerly anticipating their copies. Saturday night in Columbia marked for many Gator fans the most humiliating moment since Georgia Southern rolled into the Swamp and thumped Florida in 2013. They would be wrong, however, because this was worse. That 2013 team had already lost five straight with half its starters watching from an infirmary, so the excuses were built in and expected. The team that showed up in Columbia had a few head colds and no heart. Down 30-10 at halftime, the Gators were still within striking distance – all that was needed was a defensive stop and a drive to inject the inevitable doubt and panic within the South Carolina ranks. Just kidding. This game was over the moment ZaQuandre White tore off a 54-yard run on the first play of SC’s second possession. We’d seen this before: an opposing running back negotiating the turnstiles of the Florida ‘D’ which served as a mere spoiler alert to the ending of this horror movie. The other guys just looked bigger, faster and stronger. But this was the South Carolina Gamecocks, right? This is the same team that may be a half notch above Vanderbilt, but clearly looked miles ahead of the Florida Gators. This means Florida is a bottom feeder in the weaker sect of the Southeastern Conference: Georgia is better, Kentucky is better, South Carolina is better, Tennessee is better (that 38-14 victory in September clearly an illusion) – leaving only Missouri and Vanderbilt to contemplate. Before Saturday’s laydown, one might explain away Florida’s record this season by noting that the Gators’ losses up to that point might have even been a bit fluke-ish: A sleepy first quarter and a missed PAT cost them the Alabama game; a blocked kick returned for a TD and eight false starts cost them the Kentucky game; a bizarre defensive meltdown cost them the LSU game in which 42 points should have been enough. Even the Georgia loss came down to two and a half minutes of Bulldog smoke and mirrors surrounded by 37 other minutes where Florida looked the equal of the No. 1 team in the country. But in the loss to South Carolina, there could be just one conclusion: Florida got its teeth kicked in. On the sideline, there was defensive coordinator Todd Grantham, who looked like General Burnside at Fredericksburg. A few steps away stood head coach Dan Mullen, with that 2,000-yard-stare at his play card as though it were written in Mandarin. The scene, if not at least funny to Florida’s rivals, was downright pathetic. Coming into the game, South Carolina ranked 106th nationally in rushing, but one would never have known it Saturday night against Florida, which has a penchant for turning mediocre running games into the re-birth of the Csonka-Morris backfield. Two running backs went over 100 yards with four of the rushes going for gains of 54, 39, 40 and 22 – numbers one might expect to see in a youth football game. Some might even claim South Carolina was merely a sleeping giant that had not found its true self until just now – that Florida had no way of knowing just how good the Gamecocks really were because they hadn’t shown it. They would be wrong. The Gamecocks are a bad football team playing with a third-string quarterback who transferred in from St. Francis of Pennsylvania. But next week, South Carolina will get drilled at Missouri, exposing the fool’s gold accumulated during a win over Florida. What has happened to that genius offensive game-planning we all expect from Dan Mullen? The Gators seemed ill-prepared while on the other sideline there seemed to be little need of much preparation. The blocking schemes used by LSU and South Carolina had all the complexities of the Walnut Grove school playbook, yet the Gators couldn’t find any answers. Mullen’s plan was to avoid the running game altogether as the Gamecocks were undoubtedly preparing for just such a scenario. What we witnessed were passes on each of Florida’s first 10 offensive plays, eerily reminiscent of Leeman Bennett who once started a game with nine straight handoffs to James Wilder when coaching the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Such is not too flattering company for one possessing the mind of Mullen. Even the reverse to Jacob Copeland failed to fool anyone wearing a red shirt and became a microcosm of Florida’s fruitless attempts at creativity. Mullen became the magician reaching into his hat and pulling out nothing but lint – the spectacle worth a chuckle. Mullen and Grantham can look forward to the worst week of their lives, but Saturday’s embarrassment was a total team effort. The players are finished, the coaches have run out of sticks and carrots; hell, even radio announcer Mick Hubert was contemplating the 4-5 record just after the second half started. Where is the leader in this locker room? Perhaps if someone steps in to take charge, it will be not of a turnaround, but a mutiny. At least probation isn’t on the horizon. Knock on wood.

A few thoughts to jump start your Monday morning: MULTIPLE REPORTS: GRANTHAM, HEVESY HAVE BEEN DISMISSED Per multiple reports Sunday night, Dan Mullen has dismissed defensive coordinator Todd Grantham and offensive line coach John Hevesy effective immediately. Official announcements are expected from Mullen and the University of Florida Monday morning. The dismissal of Grantham had been expected since the LSU debacle three weeks ago, but after the Gators gave up 289 rushing yards to a South Carolina team that was averaging 117 per game coming into the 40-17 walloping of the Gators, dismissal was considered inevitable. Mullen and Grantham have worked together since 2017 when Grantham was the defensive coordinator at Mississippi State. His four-plus years with Mullen are the longest he’s worked for any coach since his first six years in the profession working for Frank Beamer, his college coach at Virginia Tech. Grantham’s first two Florida defenses were encouraging, especially 2019 when the Gators finished 7th nationally in scoring defense, 8th in rushing defense and 9th in total defense, but in the 21 games since it has been roller coaster ride. The Gators finished 83rd nationally in total defense in 2020 and while they are currently ranked 45th, it is the inconsistency that made the situation untenable. The dismissal of Hevesy during the season is somewhat of a surprise considering they have worked together since 2001 when they were part of Urban Meyer’s first head coaching staff at Bowling Green. When Mullen took the Mississippi State head coaching job in 2009, Hevesy went with him as the offensive line coach. In Saturday night’s loss to South Carolina, there was no running game (82 yards), inconsistent pass blocking and the lowest total yardage output (340 yards) since the 2018 loss to Georgia. At the midway point of the season, the Gators were ranked third nationally in rushing yardage and were among the top seven teams in the nation in fewest sacks allowed. Following the South Carolina game Saturday night, Mullen was asked if staff changes were expected. Mullen replied, “I’m not going to get into any of that stuff right now of what we are going to do. We are going to evaluate where we are at and look.” Where the Gators are is 4-5 this season and guaranteed to have the first losing record in SEC play (5 losses in an 8-game league schedule) since Mullen became the head coach. There have been reports ongoing in the past two weeks that there were escalating numbers of discipline problems within the team. There have been rampant rumors that the locker room is divided and that it’s as close to anarchy as you can get within a team situation. Will these two changes suffice and quell what seems to be a potential rebellion? Or is this just scratching the surface? Those two questions lead to the one that is on the mind of everyone in the Florida fan and booster base: Can Mullen regain control of this team and right what seems to be a sinking ship? With the dismissal of Grantham, safeties coach Wesley McGriff will assume the defensive coordinator duties. McGriff has been a defensive coordinator in the SEC at Auburn and Ole Miss. Former Syracuse head coach Paul Pasqualoni will likely fill the open spot on the defensive staff. Graduate assistant Mike Sollenne who has been running the scout team offense is expected to take over the offensive line duties for Hevesy. The Associated Press Top 25 poll: 1. Georgia 9-0; 2. Cincinnati 9-0; 3. Alabama 8-1; 4. Oklahoma 9-0; 5. Oregon 8-1; 6. Ohio State 8-1; 7. Notre Dame 8-1; 8. Michigan State 8-1; 9. Michigan 8-1; 10. Oklahoma State 8-1; 11. Texas A&M 7-2; 12. Ole Miss 7-2; 13. Wake Forest 8-1; 14. BYU 8-2; 15. UT-San Antonio 9-0; 16. Auburn 6-3; 17. Houston 8-1; 18. Baylor 7-2; 19. Iowa 7-2; 20. Wisconsin 6-3; 21. North Carolina State 7-2; 22. Coastal Carolina 8-1; 23. Penn State 6-3; 24. Louisiana 8-1; 25. Pittsburgh 7-2 The Coaches Top 25 poll: 1. Georgia 9-0; 2. Alabama; 3. Cincinnati 9-0; 4. Oklahoma 9-0; 5. Ohio State 8-1; 6. Oregon 8-1; 7. Notre Dame 8-1; 8. Michigan 8-1; 9. Michigan 8-1; 10. Oklahoma State 8-1; 11. Texas A&M 7-2; 12. Ole Miss 7-2; 13. Wake Forest 8-1; 14. Iowa 7-2; 15. BYU 8-2; 16. Texas-San Antonio 9-0; 17. Houston 8-1; 18. Baylor 7-2; 19. North Carolina State 7-2; 20. Auburn 6-3; 21. Coastal Carolina 8-1; 22. Pittsburgh 7-2; 23. Penn State 6-3; 24. Wisconsin 6-3; 25. Louisiana 8-1 THE SEC AFTER 10 WEEKS Alabama (8-1, 5-1 SEC): Alabama ran for six (count ‘em) yards on LSU. Six. That’s the worst game running the football for a Nick Saban-coached Alabama team. Ever. If Alabama can’t run Auburn is going to be a struggle. Alabama was 4-13 converting third downs against LSU. Next week: vs. New Mexico State (1-8) Arkansas (6-3, 2-3 SEC): Arkansas will go bowling for the first time since 2016 after KJ Jefferson drove the Hogs 75 yards to score the game-winning touchdown with 21 seconds to go. Jefferson completed 19-23 passes for 191 yards and Dominique Johnson ran for 107 to lead the Hogs. Next week: at LSU (4-5, 2-4 SEC) Auburn (6-3, 3-1 SEC): Credit the Auburn defense even in a loss because the Tigers didn’t give up a single offensive touchdown. The loss to Texas A&M is squarely on the offense and Bo Nix for an inability to convert third downs (4-16). Next week: vs. Mississippi State (5-4, 3-3 SEC) Georgia (9-0, 7-0 SEC): There was a JT Daniels sighting against Missouri, but it should be very clear that this is Stetson Bennett’s team. Daniels was 7-11 for 82 yards and a TD, but he also threw an interception. Bennett was 13-19 for 255 yards and two TDs, a nifty 13.4 yards per pass attempt. Next week: at Tennessee (5-4, 3-3 SEC) Kentucky (6-3, 4-3 SEC): The Wildcats lost their third straight game despite outgaining Tennessee 612-461. Wan’Dale Robinson caught 13 passes for 166 yards and a TD. Next week: at Vanderbilt (2-7, 0-5 SEC) LSU (4-5, 2-4 SEC): LSU held Alabama to 308 yards, the worst offensive game for the Crimson Tide since the 2017 semifinal win over Clemson. The Tigers sacked Bama QB Bryce Young four times for -43 yards. Next week: vs. Arkansas (5-4, 2-3 SEC) Mississippi State (5-4, 3-3 SEC): The Bulldogs threw an interception, missed three field goals and committed 10 penalties for -78 yards. The three missed field goals prompted Mike Leach to say, “There’s an open tryout on our campus for kickers. Anybody who wants to walk on and kick at Mississippi State, we’ll hold a tryout anytime you can get over here to our building providing you’re cleared by the NCAA.” Next week: at Auburn (6-3, 3-2 SEC) Missouri (4-5, 1-4 SEC): QB Connor Bazelac missed the Georgia game. It won’t be known until midweek if he’s able to go against South Carolina. Next week: vs. South Carolina (5-4, 2-3 SEC) Ole Miss (7-2, 4-2 SEC): The Rebels sacked Auburn’s Malik Willis nine times in their 27-14 win over Liberty. Matt Corral threw for 324 yards and a TD while Dannis Jackson was 6-126 receiving and John Rhys Plumlee was 7-110. Next week: vs. Texas A&M (7-2, 4-2 SEC) South Carolina (5-4, 2-3 SEC): The Gamecocks have a chance to become bowl-eligible if they can beat Missouri on the road next week. They’ve found their QB for the last three games in Jason Brown, who threw for 175 yards and two touchdowns without an interception to lead the win over Florida. Next week: at Missouri (4-5, 1-4 SEC) Tennessee (5-4, 3-3 SEC): Hendon Hooker’s first two passes in the win over Kentucky went for touchdowns of 75 and 72 yards. He threw for 320 yards and four touchdowns on the night. Next week: vs. Georgia (9-0, 7-0 SEC) Texas A&M (7-2, 4-2 SEC): The Aggies didn’t get an offensive touchdown but they got three field goals Seth Small and a defensive touchdown from Micheal Clemons for a 20-3 win over Auburn. The Aggies held Auburn to 226 total yards, only 73 on the ground. Next week: at Ole Miss (7-2, 4-2 SEC) Vanderbilt (2-7, 0-5 SEC): Next week: vs. Kentucky (6-3, 4-3 SEC) FOOTBALL IN THE MINOR LEAGUES ACC: The ACC’s last hope to make the College Football Playoff went down in flames when Wake Forest (8-1) was outscored 24-7 in the fourth quarter in a 58-55 loss to North Carolina (5-4) … Tyler Van Dyke threw for 389 yards and three TDs to lead Miami (5-4) to its third straight win over Georgia Tech (3-6), 33-30 ... North Carolina State (7-2) squares off with Wake Forest this week in a game that likely decides the Atlantic Division title. The Wolfpack got four touchdown passes to beat Florida State (3-6). Big 12: Oklahoma State (8-1) got it done with defense in its 24-3 win on the road at West Virginia, holding the Mountaineers to 133 yards of offense. Baylor (7-2) fell two games behind Oklahoma when the Bears lost to TCU (4-5). Big Ten: No. 3 Michigan State (8-1) can expect to take a dip in the College Football Playoff poll after going down, 40-29, to Purdue (6-3). For Purdue it was the second signature win of the season. Four weeks ago, the Boilermakers took down then No. 2 Iowa (7-2). This week Purdue is at Ohio State. Three giants in one season? … Ohio State (8-1) is the only Big Ten team with an unbeaten record (6-0) in conference play. Saturday, the Buckeyes outgained Nebraska (3-6) 495-335 but managed only a 26-17 win … Michigan (8-1) rebounded from its loss to Michigan State by knocking off Indiana (2-7), 29-7. The Wolverines travel to Penn State (6-3) Saturday. Pac-12: Oregon (8-1) stayed in the hunt for the final four with a 26-16 win over Washington (4-5), holding the Huskies to 166 yards. The Ducks will face Pac-12 South leader Utah (6-3) in two weeks in Salt Lake City. Utah hammered Stanford (3-6), the only team that has beaten Oregon so far, 52-7. Independents: Notre Dame is 8-1 and ranked 7th in both the AP and Coaches polls, but that’s pretty much the ceiling for the Irish. They don’t have a ranked team left on the schedule and they need a signature win … UMass (1-8) pulled the plug on Walt Bell after the Minutemen lost to Rhode Island 35-25. Bell was 3-23 in three years. Group of Five: Cincinnati (9-0) was on the verge of overtime with lowly Tulsa (3-5) when the Hurricanes blew two chances to get into the end zone in the final seconds. Will an unbeaten record, the loss by Michigan State and that earlier in the season win on the road at Notre Dame be enough to vault Cincinnati into the top four of the College Football Playoff poll Tuesday night? … Houston (8-1) will probably face Cincinnati in the American Athletic Conference championship game. The Cougars whacked South Florida (2-7), 54-42 … UTSA (9-0) has a chance to crack the CFP poll after taking out UTEP (6-3), 44-23. The Roadrunners are 15th in the AP poll, 16th in the coaches. ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Change is never easy for a head football coach. When he has to dismiss assistant coaches, it’s more than just ending a professional relationship but one that is also personal and involves families that will have to be uprooted. While it has become obvious that Dan Mullen needed to make some changes before his entire football team imploded, we have to know that dismissing Todd Grantham and John Hevesy was not an easy thing to do. Mullen and Hevesy were part of Urban Meyer’s first coaching staff at Bowling Green in 2001 and they worked together for 21 years. Grantham was with Mullen since 2017. If you’ve ever been a boss who has had to fire someone who worked with you for some time or if you’ve ever been on the bad end of a pink slip, then you should know this wasn’t an easy thing to do. So before you celebrate that Grantham and Hevesy are gone, please take the time to wish them well and Godspeed that they will find a new job.

Perhaps you were of the mindset that things just couldn’t get worse, that the LSU and Georgia beatings were rock bottom for the Florida Gators. Well, you were wrong, but don’t feel bad because you aren’t the only one who was thinking at least we have those four cupcake games in November to ease the pain. You can scratch that idea. The LSU loss was bad. Any time your defense takes a powder and gives up 316 rushing yards and your offense tacks on 21 points for the other team because your quarterbacks complete four passes to the other team, it’s really, really painful. The Georgia loss was worse because the defense actually showed up but the offense had its lousiest 3-minute stretch since the Nebraska Chainsaw Massacre of 1995 when the Gators were poleaxed in the national championship game. Georgia was gifted three touchdowns in three remarkably horrendous minutes at the end of the first half, turning winnable into disastrous. You can at least make the excuse that even if LSU is losing the Tigers have a lot of good football players. You can also reason away the Georgia loss because Georgia is good enough to win its first national championship since Herschel Walker was running over people instead of running for the United States Senate. So what’s the excuse for losing 40-17 to a South Carolina team that came into the game 18-point underdogs? The flu bug had something to do with it. That much isn’t an excuse but reality. “We had anywhere from 20-30 guys missing from practice every day this week,” Dan Mullen said postgame. “I give some guys credit. Emory Jones tested positive for the flu this morning, we had several guys not even come out onto to the field, onto the bus. I don’t want to make an excuse for those guys, but I want to give our guys credit for battling, with facing that adversity. We had a bunch of guys dealing with sickness. We had to fly some guys up separately from the team, keep everybody separated. Those guys still went out. Even though there was a large number of guys that missed practice, we had quite a few ... Our training staff tried to do a good job today of IV-ing guys and trying to get them ready to be able to go out and perform.” Was the flu responsible for a 23-point final deficit to a team whose only previous SEC win was Vanderbilt? Even flu-ravaged it just doesn’t make sense that the Gators gave up 286 rushing yards (6.8 per carry) to a team that came into the game averaging 117 per game and 3.37 per carry. And how is it that South Carolina’s third-team quarterback, playing in just his fourth game of the season and whose last starting gig was in D1AA for the St. Francis (PA) Red Flashes, looked like the reincarnation of Francis Asbury Tarkenton the way he bought time scrambling and then found wide open receivers? Let’s assume the flu had more to do with the loss than we want to credit. Healthy or not, it doesn’t change the fact that the Gators made the same kind of mistakes on defense that they make when they’re healthy. When they’re healthy they botch coverages, give up chunk plays on the ground and tackle as if the ball carrier has been greased. It also doesn’t change the fact that the Gators turn the ball over way too much. The Gators had another pass intercepted (their 15th this season) and South Carolina returned a Florida fumble for a touchdown. That makes 75 points opponents have scored this season that are the direct result of a turnover. Good teams don’t give points away. The Gators seem to pass them out like they are trick or treat candy. Another fact to contemplate and this one really hurts. The Gators are 4-8 since last December 12 and the four wins are sandwiched between two three-game losing streaks. Think about that for a moment. The Gators lost their last three games of the 2020 season and their only four wins are bookended by another three-game losing streak. Three-game losing streaks are not the sign of healthy football programs. Not at all. So what is wrong with the Florida football program? There is no solution that can make 2021 less of a disappointment, but something has to be done to salvage next year and the years after. What seems obvious to fans, media and experts alike is that Mullen has to do a no sacred cows evaluation of his entire football operation. By no sacred cows it means that nobody’s job is safe. One by one, Mullen needs to identify those that can be part of the solution and tell those that aren’t that he’s thankful for their service but it’s time to seek gainful employment elsewhere. Once that is accomplished, he has to bring in some people who can rejuvenate every aspect of the program from the daily operations to recruiting to coaching. Staff changes aren’t easy but sometimes – like now, for instance – they’re necessary. Asked about staff changes after the South Carolina loss, Mullen responded, “I’m not going to get into any of that stuff right now of what we are going to do. We are going to evaluate where we are at and look.” The minutes after a drubbing like the one the Gators experienced in Columbia is not the right time to be openly discussing staff changes. Staff changes are done in private and not in public. Mullen might come across as arrogant and haughty much of the time, but he’s not cold hearted and to publicly announce he’s going to be firing some coaches immediately after a game would be the kind of classless move that would prevent him from hiring new coaches when the time comes. Dan Mullen is a very smart guy who knows that if the Florida program isn’t broken, it will be soon if he doesn’t make some significant changes. The most obvious change has to be the defensive coordinator because if the last 21 games (12 last year, 9 this) have taught us one thing it is that Todd Grantham’s schemes and adjustments aren’t getting it done with the kind of consistency that it takes to field an exceptional defense. The only way Florida is ever going to make it back to a championship-level football program is with a consistent defense that can stop opponents and get off the field. The last 21 games have told us it won’t happen with Grantham. No matter what happens with these next three games – Samford, Missouri and Florida State – this season is going down as a total disappointment. Perhaps our expectations were way too high and undoubtedly, we underestimated just how big a loss it was when Kyle Trask, Kyle Pitts and Kadarius Toney left for the No Fun League. Even so, none of us expected to see the football program’s respectability hanging on by a thread. That’s what we have, a football program that is hanging on by a thread. The buck stops with Dan Mullen. He’s the one who got the Gators into this mess and it’s up to him to get the Gators out of it. The question that looms on everyone’s mind at this point is does Mullen have the resolve to own up to the shortcomings of his entire program and then take whatever steps are necessary to rectify the situation. If you always do what you’ve always done, then you’ll always be what you’ve always been. It’s time for Dan Mullen to do something different.

Florida Football Postgame Quotes Dan Mullen, Florida Head Coach “Give them a lot of credit. They played well, made some plays, made a lot of plays. They were able to run the ball and control the tempo of the game and capitalize on mistakes that we made. I’m disappointed in what we did and we’ve got to work and find a way to get better.” On the team’s performance... “Yeah, that’s a tough one. I know [every one of our guys] had a great attitude this week and worked, and the desire of our guys and the attitude that they bring. We’ve got to create some positive momentum for the guys on the team. For those guys, we as coaches have got to improve and help them get better.” On how hard the team played... “You know, I certainly don’t think that we gave up. I give our guys credit. They battled. They faced a lot of adversity and continued to battle. We faced all kinds of adversities this week. Those guys continued to battle.” On the adversities... “We had anywhere from 20-30 guys missing from practice every day this week. I give some guys credit. Emory Jones tested positive for the flu this morning, we had several guys not even come out onto to the field, onto the bus. I don’t want to make an excuse for those guys, but I want to give our guys credit for battling, with facing that adversity. We had a bunch of guys dealing with sickness. We had to fly some guys up separately from the team, keep everybody separated. Those guys still went out. Even though there was a large number of guys that missed practice, we had quite a few... Our training staff tried to do a good job today of IV-ing guys and trying to get them ready to be able to go out and perform. I think our guys compete and they’re going to work, they’re going to fight, and they’re going to give everything they have. “We as coaches have to do a better job to put them in the positions, for the effort they give, to put them in position to be successful.” On his feelings of the outcome... “I didn’t see it coming. I’m obviously really disappointed. You give them credit. Their guys played really well, made plays that were there to be made. I’ve coached a long time so I don’t know that stuff is stunning really ever to me. “Obviously, wasn’t seeing the game play out this way. So, very disappointed. I know the players are very disappointed.” On the run game... “We fell behind a little bit. We were moving the ball, we had some explosive plays there. I think part of that for them was putting everybody at the line of scrimmage and that’s where we were able to hit some explosive plays early on in the game, throwing the ball down the field. We’ve got to be better at the line of scrimmage and up front, offensively and defensively on the line, we’ve got to play better.” On staff changes... “I’m not going to get into any of that stuff right now of what we are going to do. We are going to evaluate where we are at and look. We’ve got a game. We head back to The Swamp next Saturday. We haven’t played there in a really long time, five-to-six weeks. So, the opportunity to get home is going to be great and I think our guys will be excited to get back home and we’ve got to try to get this fixed as coaches.” On the run defense... “Something we’ve got to look at. Maybe just schematically some things going on, some missed tackles. We’ve got to be better and more physical right at the line of scrimmage and the point of attack with our defensive front.”m On Dameon Pierce’s involvement... “With some of the stuff we do there’s different options that go on in each play. Even if your calling run plays, but if they have nine, eight guys standing on the line of scrimmage, the quarterback read is going to tell him to throw some and we’ve got to take some shots downfield. I think you guys know we roll the backs through. Obviously, we wanted to come in and run the ball. That was going to be something we wanted to do. Early on, they had everybody at the line of scrimmage, and you saw that we were able to take some shots down the field. The other times we just got to execute better up front. We had some guys miss some time this week up front, but we still got to execute much better at the line of scrimmage.” On the team’s performance over the last few weeks... “We got to make sure we got the right guys in the right position to make plays. We got to continue to build confidence with the guys right there. It’s not one little thing. You look throughout the season, there’s a lot of little things that have gone wrong. We’re not doing things that you play winning football at. We’re not playing great at the line of scrimmage. We’re turning the football over. Those are two huge things. Special teams, we’ve got to get better at special teams within the kicking game. If you look at that, we’re not doing the things you need to do to play winning football. We did that early in the season, but you can’t not control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. You’re turning the ball over in other situations. That’s not a recipe for success.” On foreseeing the team’s struggles... “No. There’s been a bunch throughout the year. You don’t foresee anything. You don’t foresee all the turnovers we’ve had. Some of those issues and some inconsistencies in which we’ve performed with. You don’t really foresee that stuff.” ] On players that didn’t travel going live on social media during the game... “I don’t know. I was coaching the game, so I wasn’t watching social media.” On the team responding to his message of energy, excitement and focus... “Yeah, our players are competitors. They want to win. There are guys that really want to win and have a great attitude. They want to work hard to go be successful.” On not singing with the band the last two games... “We’re on the road right now. That’s on me. To be honest with you, I didn’t know we had our band here today. We’ll sing with the band next week in The Swamp.”

“What we’ve got here is failure to communicate. Some men you just can’t reach so you get what we had here last week.” – Strother Martin as The Captain in the movie “Cool Hand Luke” Failure to communicate is not the only problem The Captain of the Good Ship Gator has these days, but it’s the one that the media has grabbed onto and won’t let go. In the case of the Florida Gators, The Captain is Dan Mullen. To put it kindly, his last few days have been a public relations nightmare but things have been difficult ever since his postgame comments after the Kentucky game. Following the Kentucky game, Mullen bristled when a reporter asked point blank if he had been outcoached by Mark Stoops. He responded that the Gators had outgained Kentucky 382-224. However true that may be, no matter how many yards the Gators gained, they still LOST the football game. The Gators have outgained all eight teams they’ve played so far yet they are 4-4 as they head into Saturday’s encounter in Columbia with a South Carolina team that is an 18-point underdog for good reason. If won-lost records were determined by who gained the most yardage, Florida would be 8-0 and ranked No. 1 in the nation, but the only stats that matter are PF and PA, as in points for and points against. You get more PF every game you win. When you have more PA you lose. Florida has lost the PF/PA battle four times this season and that doesn’t bode well with a fan base that realizes all too well that the Gators could have actually won those four games they lost. Florida fans love the stats, but they really only care about winning and losing. They want to see the Gators pulverize the Gamecocks Saturday night, then they want to see three more blowout wins over Samford, (at) Missouri and Florida State. Winning all four games in November won’t make people forget that the Gators could have been in the national championship hunt if they had only avoided mistakes at critical junctures in the four losses, but four decisive wins in November will take some of the edge off a season that hasn’t exactly lived up to expectations. Winning these last four games is important but winning can only help Mullen so much. He’s not in any danger of losing his job – at least not this year – but he does need to figure out this communication thing and get better at it in a hurry. Right now, both state and national media see Mullen as an easy target for quivers full of darts and arrows. Fans pay attention to what they hear on ESPN and talk radio and what they read online and in their daily newspapers. The image of the Gator chomping Mullen getting off the plane in Gainesville in December of 2017 has been replaced by a constant barrage of negatives. If Mullen intends to win back the portion of the Gator Nation that is unhappy not to mention the hearts and minds of potential recruits and transfers, then he needs to win these next four games and absolutely cannot afford another PR disaster like the one he had Monday. There is absolutely no way to put a positive spin on that one. At a Monday morning press conference that lasted a few seconds short of 13 minutes – typically, the Monday presser goes 30 – Mullen went into a defensive posture when the first question had to do with recruiting. The questioner knew Mullen can’t go into specifics about recruits, but he asked a general question: Is a new approach needed? Given the decommitment of Florida’s top two committed recruits in the days before, it seemed like a fair question, but Mullen’s answer was contentious. “We’re in the season right now,” Mullen responded. “We’ll do recruiting after the season. When it gets to recruiting time, we can talk about recruiting.” Mullen could have explained that Florida is working hard to secure a good recruiting class and tempered it with there is only so much he can say about it right now, but his answer was abrupt and contentious. He needed to loosen up but didn’t. About 10 very tense minutes later, the press conference was over and done with. The optics were bad and they got even worse when it was announced there would be no further media access for players and coaches with the exception of the 10 minutes of the mandatory Wednesday SEC Coaches Teleconference. Within minutes the Twitterverse went vicious. By end of the day Monday, the national media was letting Mullen have it both barrels. It could have been and should have been avoided. Wednesday, on the Teleconference, Mullen tried to smooth things over but again, something was lost in translation. Perhaps it was a sincere attempt to help make things right but it didn’t come across that way. “First, I’d like to touch on something for all the Gator Nation, all our great fans, of something that was taken out of context at Monday’s press conference as it pertains to recruiting,” Mullen said. “Our staff recruits non-stop. We grind at recruiting every day. We’re always recruiting and working the best to get great players that fit the Gator Standard and bring them here to our program, and as I said on Monday, we just weren’t going to get into the specifics on everything we do in recruiting and how we do all of that until after the season. “Also, there were some people that were concerned about our player availability. On Monday morning, we had an 8 o’clock team meeting. We had a great meeting with the team. I thought the energy, the excitement of our players going into this final third of our season, and the focus of which we have to take and the approach we need to take in the final third of the season. I felt that the best for our players was to make sure our focus is completely on the work that we have to do in the final third of the season. And, so because of that, I made myself available for media every single day this week – Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday – because we didn’t have the players available. So I just want to clarify some of those things that apparently have been taken way out of context over the last several days.” The Tuesday availability was a one-on-one interview with Edgar Thompson of the Orlando Sentinel. No one else was invited. Wednesday, Mullen was only on the Teleconference because it’s a requirement. It was more bad optics at a time when Dan Mullen needs to be doing his best to give the media and a very frazzled Gator Nation the warm and fuzzies. You would think someone would have gotten the hint that all this negative press could be avoided, but it hasn’t happened, therefore it might take weeks or even months to repair some of the damage. This is not a time for a public relations disaster, but that’s what we have. If Mullen were winning like Nick Saban he could get away with a certain amount of snarkiness or even arrogance, but in the 13 years Dan Mullen has been a head coach, Nick Saban has won six national championships and twice played in the national championship game. When you win as often and as big as Nick Saban, it’s not a necessity to give the media and fan base the giggles on a regular basis. You can even get away with trashing the media if you so desire and it seems Nick has to do that at least a couple of times a year. When you’re Dan Mullen and you’ve been a head coach 13 years with only one SEC East championship to your name (at Florida in 2020), you don’t need to convince people that you’re the smartest guy in the room. What you need to do is (a) win ball games and (b) cultivate good media relations. A media and fan base that like you will be far more lenient than ones that are hostile. A lesson could be learned from Florida State. Bobby Bowden took the head coaching job at FSU in 1976. It took him 17 years to win a national championship. Miami won four of them between 1983-1991 before Bobby got his first, but all the time Miami was winning national championships, Bobby Bowden was winning the public relations game. Miami was perceived as the evil empire. FSU got a pass despite numerous shenanigans because Bobby was an aw shucks kind of guy who knew writers and media personalities by their first names. On Sunday mornings after an FSU home game, he bought breakfast for the media who stayed overnight in Tallahassee. When FSU lost, he shouldered the blame and went out of his way to praise the victors, both players and coaches. On the hamburger steak and green pea circuit, Bobby made every fan feel part of FSU’s success by signing autographs, posing for photos and yukking it up. You think it’s an accident Bobby wasn’t crucified by the media when he said he was praying for a misdemeanor when Peter Warrick was arrested? Dan Mullen needs perceptions to change and there are two ways that he can do it. First, he’s got to win these next four games and get a fairly decent bowl game. A 3-1 record in November isn’t going to cut it. He has to go 4-0 or else the heat he’s feeling right now will feel like a warm breeze by comparison. Second, Mullen and the media handlers at the University of Florida have to go out of their way to change the negative perceptions. Winning four games decisively even against overmatched opponents will help but only so much. To truly overcome the negative perceptions and bad optics, Mullen needs a public relations makeover in the next month and there is only one way that is going to be accomplished – through communication. A decision needs to be made by both Dan Mullen and the higher-ups in the University of Florida athletic administration. The admins need to sit him down for a come to Jesus meeting in which it’s explained in full detail that if the Florida Gators are to become a championship-level program, then it’s going to take better communication starting immediately.

A few thoughts to jump start your Friday morning: WILL THIS BE A NOVEMBER TO REMEMBER? Okay, so the Gators are 4-4 (2-4 SEC) and so there isn’t a team with a winning record on the schedule for November. The Gators need to go 4-0 starting Saturday night in Columbia against a South Carolina (4-4, 1-4 SEC) team that had to rally from behind to knock off Vanderbilt at home. Going 4-0 against South Carolina, Samford, Missouri and Florida State might not seem like much of an accomplishment, but considering the roller coaster ride it has been this year, an unbeaten November will be an accomplishment and it will help quiet the critics of which there are many. The Gators are favored by 18 and it shouldn’t take long to figure out if they’re motivated or if they’ve taken the Gamecocks lightly. If the Gators show up at Williams-Brice Stadium motivated and ready to play a complete game on both sides of the football, the Gators probably win this one by four or more touchdowns. However, if they play uninspired and inconsistent, it’s probably going to be white knuckles. Emory Jones gets the start at quarterback with Anthony Richardson probably unable to go due to concussion protocols. If the Emory Jones who looked so good against Tennessee shows up, then Florida is going to score a lot of points but he’s got to protect the football. That’s been a problem all year. Mistakes by Jones (nine interceptions) and Richardson (five interceptions, one fumble) have been turned into 69 points by opponents this year. Three of Florida’s losses are by one possession and in each of the three losses, turnovers were a leading factor. The game plan for Florida will probably be ground and pound on offense because the Gamecocks struggle against the run (237.8 per game allowed in four SEC losses). The Gamecocks are tied for the SEC lead in interceptions (11) and they did get after Tennessee for six sacks. South Carolina is going to have to throw the ball well to have any chance at all to beat the Gators. The Gamecocks average only 3.37 yards per rushing attempt and only 117 yards per game on the ground. They average 210.6 per game through the air and 7.2 per attempt. The Gamecocks have struggled to protect their quarterbacks against decent SEC teams so expect a lot of blitz packages from the Gators. Florida is going to win this game. The only question is by how much? If it’s a motivated Florida team that believes the next four games have meaning, then it is a blowout. If not, it won’t be decided until the fourth quarter. The Sayer says sooth: Florida 42, South Carolina 14 THE SEC SOOTHSAYER Missouri (4-4, 1-3 SEC) at No. 1 Georgia (8-0, 6-0 SEC): Starting linebacker Adam Anderson has been suspended from the team after being accused of raping a woman in Athens, but Kirby Smart could probably suspend his entire starting defense and still beat Missouri. Georgia is favored by 39 points because (a) the Bulldogs are really, really good and (b) Missouri, with the exception of running back Tyler Badie, is really, really bad. There is all sorts of speculation that Smart will start JT Daniels at quarterback rather than Stetson Bennett. He could start Oscar the Grouch and still beat Missouri. The over/under is 59.5 points. Figure Georgia will be responsible for 50 or so. The Sayer says sooth: Georgia 56, Missouri 7 LSU (4-4, 2-3 SEC) at No. 2 Alabama (7-1, 4-1 SEC): When LSU beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa back in 2019, Coach Oeaux had a few unkind things to say about Alabama that went viral in a hurry. As he will discover Saturday night, Nick Saban has a very long memory and paybacks are hell. LSU comes into the game seriously beaten up and minus some of its better players. Nick doesn’t care if LSU shows up at full strength or minus important players, he’s going to mete out some serious punishment. Alabama is favored to win this one by 28.5 points, probably the biggest spread in an Alabama-LSU game since Gerry DiNardo was the LSU coach. Alabama comes into the game averaging 45.9 points per game. It will be a surprise if the Tide doesn’t hit the 50 mark. For Bryce Young it’s a chance to put up some Heisman-worthy stats. For LSU, it’s going to be a big enough beatdown that boosters will pony up millions to see if AD Scott Woodward can lure Jimbo Fisher to leave Aggieland for the bayou. The Sayer says sooth: Alabama 54, LSU 10 No. 13 Auburn (6-2, 3-1 SEC) at No. 14 Texas A&M (6-2, 3-2 SEC): Besides being thought of as little brother in their home states, Auburn and Texas A&M share several things in common. Aggie coach Jimbo Fisher was once Little Terry Bowden’s offensive coordinator at Auburn. They’ve both played the No. 1 team in the country. Auburn got its doors blown off by Georgia, now No. 1 but No. 2 at the time. The Aggies beat Alabama, now No. 2 but No. 1 at the time. The Aggies beat Alabama at Kyle Field, which is where this game will be played Saturday afternoon and that’s one of the reasons they’re going to win. The other reason is the 1-2 running punch of Isaiah Spiller and Devon Arcane. Las Vegas gives the Aggies a 4.5-point edge with an over/under of 49.5 points. The Sayer says sooth: Texas A&M 31, Auburn 24 Liberty (7-2) at No. 16 Ole Miss (6-2, SEC): The NFL scouts will take up plenty of room in the press box at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium for The Prodigal Son Bowl. They’re not coming to this game to see former bad boys Hugh Freeze (Liberty) and Lane Kiffin (Ole Miss) match coaching wits. They’ll be in Oxford to see Malik Willis (Liberty) and Matt Corral (Ole Miss), who might be the first two quarterbacks taken in the NFL Draft. If Ole Miss were healthy, this would be a blowout win, but the Rebels have so many injuries to their receivers and on the O-line that Willis and Liberty have a puncher’s chance to score an upset. Wouldn’t that be something if Freeze came back to the place he used to coach to get a win over a ranked team? It probably doesn’t happen, but it’s possible. Ole Miss is favored by 9.5 points and the over/under is 67. The Sayer says sooth: Ole Miss 38, Liberty 35 No. 17 Mississippi State (5-3, 3-2 SEC) at Arkansas (5-3, 1-3 SEC): There is method to Mike Leach’s madness. Just because he doesn’t run the ball very much, people think the Air Raid offense is all about quick strikes. That’s hardly the case. Mississippi State controls the ball an average of 35 minutes per game by spreading the field and throwing these quick little darts to every eligible receiver. They’re playing defense with the offense and the defense isn’t bad, ranking third in the SEC. Arkansas relies on its running game (249 yards per game) but will be facing a Mississippi State defense that gives up only 89 yards on the ground. Arkansas is favored by 4.5 points, but this has a Mississippi State feel to it. The Sayer says sooth: Mississippi State 34, Arkansas 24 Tennessee (4-4, 2-3 SEC) at No. 18 Kentucky (6-2, 4-2, SEC): Three weeks ago when Kentucky was 6-0, Mark Stoops was trying to convince the world that this new version of the Kentucky Wildcats could handle the pressure of being unbeaten. Since then the Wildcats are 0-2 and worse yet, they’ve lost the mojo in their running game. UK has run for 117 yards combined in the last two. When they couldn’t run against Mississippi State last week, Will Levis completed three passes to the other team. To beat Tennessee, UK has to re-establish its running game and Levis has to throw the ball to people wearing blue shirts. The Wildcats also have to figure out how to stop Hendon Hooker, who has thrown for 17 TDPs with only two interceptions while running for 417 yards and four TDs. The Vols are a shaky 1-point favorite which is surprising considering they’ve given up 482 yards on the ground in their last two games, both of them losses. It’s all over if Kentucky figures out how to run the ball again. The Sayer says sooth: Kentucky 33, Tennessee 31 SIX GAMES TO KEEP AN EYE ON THIS WEEKEND No. 9 Wake Forest (8-0) at North Carolina (4-4): The over/under for this one is 76.5 points. That seems way too low. This might come down to whoever has the football last. Sam Hartman (Wake Forest), not Sam Howell will be the best quarterback on the field but if North Carolina can run the football, an upset could be possible. No. 3 Michigan State (8-0) at Purdue (5-3): You would think Michigan State should be favored by more than three points, but Purdue is a strange team. Capable one week of clobbering Iowa then stinking up the joint the next week against Wisconsin. If Kenneth Walker III gets it going on the ground, Purdue doesn’t stand a chance. No. 19 North Carolina State (6-2) at Florida State (3-5): FSU hasn’t beaten a ranked team since 2016. It’s not going to happen this week. North Carolina State is only a 2.5-point favorite, but the Wolfpack have a really good defense and the Seminoles turn the ball over a lot. Georgia Tech (3-5) at Miami (4-4): The Hurricanes have back-to-back wins over ranked teams, plus they’ve found their quarterback in Tyler Van Dyke. Georgia Tech struggles to put points on the scoreboard. Miami is a 10.5-point favorite. Manny Diaz is looking more and more like he’ll be the coach at The Ewe for another year at least. No. 4 Oregon (7-1) at Washington (4-4): The Ducks have this habit of losing at least a couple of games every year to teams they should beat. Washington’s defense is the best in the Pac-12. The game will be played in cold rain. Can the Huskies spring the upset and kill the chances of any Pac-12 making the College Football Playoff? Army (4-3) at Air Force (6-2): Army has attempted 51 passes this season. Air Force has thrown the ball 64 times. My over/under for this game is 13 … as in 13 pass attempts combined by the two teams. Air Force is a 2.5-point favorite. ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Poor old Cincinnati. Have you listened to all the so-called experts whine that Cincinnati is the No. 6 team in the first College Football Playoff poll? Yes, the Bearcats are 8-0, but they’ve only beaten two teams with winning records – Notre Dame and UCF. Meanwhile, if Alabama (No. 2) loses a game, the Crimson Tide is out. No. 3 Michigan State still has to play Penn State and Ohio State. Ohio State has lost a game and still has to play Michigan State and Michigan. Oregon typically loses one late season game. Cincinnati, meanwhile, still has games with SMU (7-1) and probably Houston (7-1) in the American Athletic Conference Championship Game. If the Bearcats are 13-0 on Selection Sunday, there is every good chance they’ll make the playoff. If they lose, they’re out. So spare me the whining.